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The Screwtape Letters: How are you Tempted?

One of my favorite scenes from The Emperor's New Groove is when Kronk is debating with his shoulder angel and demon. It is a comical look into a serious reality. As Fr. Ripperger says, we all have a chief tempting demon and a guardian angel. We have this war occurring for our souls regularly. We can discern these voices through prayer and reflection to then choose the advice of our guardian angel. The Screwtape Letters was instrumental in developing this skill. I began to see the temptations as they came up to make the right choice. The Talking Demons C. S. Lewis in this book records the conversations between Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood. The letters are always from Screwtape to his nephew who advises the demon on the next moves to tempt the patient (the human wormwood is assigned to). Screwtape praises the junior tempter when he leads the patient from God but cautions Wormwood from celebrating too much as God is always working. When Wormwood makes a blunder, he is scrutinized...
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11/22/63: Would you risk it all to save JFK?

  The assassination of JFK was always fascinating to me as a kid. I felt the same about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln or the sinking of the Titanic. Those seem to be turning points in history. I always wondered what would happen if I could go back in time and change just one of those events. 11/22/63 lets you travel back in the past to see if the assassination can be stopped.  Synopsis Jake Epping is a typical high school teacher wrapping up his grading at the end of another school year. He is just about to leave when he gets a call from Al Templeton, the local burger joint owner, to stop by his place before heading home. Al tells Jake about a secret that he has been keeping. Al has found a portal that allows him to go back to the late 1950s. Al has been using this to get cheap hamburgers for his diner but last time he decided to try to save Kennedy from the assassination on 11/22/63. Al has lung cancer and asks Jake to step into the portal to save JFK and make all thin...
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A Truly Catholic Biology Textbook

Textbooks are not normally a book that gets discussed in a blog. However, my education background demands that I discuss textbooks. I started my professional career as a biology teacher. I love the subject but never felt that the textbooks properly conveyed biology. They tried to reduce life to atoms, molecules, and cellular processes. I eventually taught math and religion. This change allowed my frustration with biology to be shelved. That is until I came across Christ the King Books  and discovered a real biology textbook.  Christ the King vs All others Most textbooks I taught with used the approach of small to large. They began teaching atoms and molecules, then cells and their processes. Eventually, you move to organ systems and finally organisms. Teaching this way challenged my students. They had little exposure to chemistry. To compensate for that, they would receive a crash course at the beginning of biology. As a student, I hated these chapters and just wanted to learn...
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Dolorous Passion: What Love our Lord Shows Us

  A week ago I was on a business trip in the south California valleys. When you are in the valleys, in every direction you look are mountains. They are majestic and beautiful so you pull out your camera to capture that sense of awe. I tried to capture the beauty so I could show it to my kids. After looking at the pictures, I knew that they would not do the landscape justice. Still, I did the best I could to convey it to them when I returned home. That is how speaking of this book is. There is a beauty that cannot be captured by explaining the book, you have to read it yourself.  Synopsis The book starts at the celebration of the Passover among Jesus and His apostles. It explains Christ commanding His apostles to prepare for the Passover meal It gives the events of the Passover and the secret movements of Judas. After completing the Passover, Jesus and His 11 apostles leave for the Mount of Olives. Christ then goes through His agony and you get a glimpse of the temptations and ...
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Harry Potter and the Great Controversy

Harry Potter is a lightning rod book series. Some say it is harmless fun with an epic good vs evil tale. Others claim it is demonically inspired fiction that is sure to lead your child to hell. Growing up, Harry Potter was a book series I read and watched all the movies, the sixth was the worst. I will present my thoughts on the series and if I would recommend it for your library.  Synopsis Harry Potter is an unlucky boy. We meet him after he has lost his parents and is forced to live with his unpleasant uncle, aunt, and cousin. We are told that he will be famous in the wizarding world but he will have no clue since he is living with his nonmagical family. He grows up with his aunt and uncle being treated like a second-class citizen while his cousin is spoiled rotten. Eventually, he gets a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry. His aunt and uncle refuse to let him see the letters until a half-giant called Hagrid, delivers the letter himself. Harry is...
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The Great Divorce - How people choose Hell

  Have you ever wondered why someone would choose Hell? I would hear it all the time growing up. Hell is a locked door but the lock is on the inside of Hell. I never could imagine that someone would voluntarily choose to suffer. The Great Divorce displayed how people choose Hell daily.  Synopsis The narrator (I will call him Lewis for C.S. Lewis) finds himself in a vast gray town. It has a glow over it that you see at dusk or predawn, there is debate about whether the morning or night is approaching the town. This faint light never changes. Lewis stumbles around until he reaches a bus queue. He doesn't know what he is waiting for exactly but he is at the end of a long line. There is no way everyone can fit on he thinks, and then the line shortens. Fights break out, some people just leave of their own will and Lewis gets a seat on the next bus that arrives. He uneasily talks to the other riders until he looks outside to see that they are flying in the air to a high cliff. When ...
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Coraline - Curiosity Gone Wrong

  Coraline - Curiosity Gone Wrong Coraline is a fantastic book that gets a bad reputation due to the movie. The movie has a heavy emphasis on being creepy and using frequent jump scares. The book has profound themes in it, and it is a book I have read to my own children.  Synopsis Coraline is a girl who has just moved to a new flat in the Pink Palace along with her parents. In this large divided house, Coraline has neighbors in the basement and roof flat. One rainy day after exploring the house, Coraline finds a door that leads to the empty flat, or so she thinks. Her mother opens the door to reveal a solid brick wall on the other side of the door.  Coraline is disappointed but keeps thinking about that door. Her roof neighbor tells her not to open the door, while the basement neighbors read her tea leaves to tell her she is in grave danger. Even with these warnings, Coraline decides to open the door when her mother makes a grocery run.  When she opens the door she f...
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